The period of time between January 1 and Spring Festival is a busy one for Chinese bureaucrats as they furiously compile statistics and data collected over the previous year. A slew of these new figures have just been released regarding Yunnan's economic growth.

The National Bureau of Statistics announced preliminary findings over the weekend, stating the province's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 12.1 percent in 2013. By percentage, Yunnan had the third fastest growing economy, year-on-year, of the country's 33 provinces, municipalities and administrative regions.

In 2012, the provincial GDP surpassed one trillion yuan for the first time. The 2013 number rose to 1.172 trillion yuan (US$194 billion) on gains largely attributed to continuing expansion in the industrial and real estate sectors. Agricultural output saw a jump as well, with grain harvests reaching their highest output totals in five years.

Gross domestic product is considered the market value of all officially recognized goods and services produced within a given area. A rising GDP usually correlates highly with rising standards of living.

With increases in living standards often comes a concomitant rise in energy demand. Yunnan reportedly burned a somewhat astonishing 67.5 million tons of coal in 2013, much of it to generate electricity. That represents an eight percent increase